A Darker Shade of Pale tells of Beryl Crosher-Segers' family and community life in apartheid-era South Africa. With a piercing narrative, she details the injustices, humiliation and challenges she faced under the brutal 1950s reign of the National Party.

Through her multi-racial heritage, Beryl was born into a life of inequality and hardship. This is the remarkable story of resilience and courage to power forward toward a better life, to love in the shadow of hate.

A Darker Shade of Pale is a story of hope in the face of despair and of courage when faced with insurmountable obstacles.

"A MUST read primer for anyone who is interested in a public health service career." –Amazon Reviewer

At its heart, A Life in Dark Places is an adventure story, its heroes the men and women who have risked their lives to minister to the vulnerable. Paul writes masterfully about what he has seen and experienced with a keen eye for detail and a leavening of humor.

The author has found himself a participant in some of the most dramatic and horrific events of the past half century--America's defeat in Vietnam and the subsequent "boat people" crisis; the fall of the Shah of Iran; the unspeakable acts committed by violent groups in sub-Saharan Africa, the tension along the Pakistan-Afghan border following 9-11, the flood of refugees unleashed by the war in Syria.

A Life in Dark Places is more than a memoir of one man's journey and evolution. It is a wakeup call to America and its citizens.

Our passions have a way of doing that for us: extending our lives

In 1971, a father and son ventured out of their apartment in New Jersey to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard to try their hand at surfcasting. That trip began a life of Spring trips to the waters’s edge in search of bluefish and striped bass. Fifty years later, Mike Carotta takes readers along for thirty straight nights and days of fishing.

This is not a How To book. It does not contain the secrets to a fantastic fishing career. Rather, hard fishing has a way of revealing lessons from the shore and the people who gather there—binding together strangers in conversations and gestures, failures and successes, new learnings, and, eventually, creating old friends.

Through it all, more than fish are caught—and shared. The result is a thoughtful collection of essays on life with some notes from the trade filtered in. Join Mike on his pilgrimage back to where the distance between heaven and earth gets a little thinner and the real "keepers" of the trip go far beyond the fish on the end of the line.

"I am not a good surf fisherman. There are no helpful fishing hints here. This is a collection of recollection: stories of saltwater characters, occurrences, and conversations. Like stars in the night sky, they are best enjoyed when you get some distance from the lights of other stuff." – Excerpt from A Long Cast

Hadley Ferguson and Catherine Armsden, a painter and a writer, have each spent years seeking a diagnosis for their troubling symptoms. When they are finally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, they meet in an online support group and quickly become long-distance friends. But for Hadley, the shared diagnosis is still not correct. She embarks on a traumatic, six-state odyssey that Catherine documents in vivid detail.

Part critical commentary on the American healthcare system and part primer on Parkinson's disease, An Alert, Well-Hydrated Artist in No Acute Distress tackles many topics beyond Hadley’s and Catherine’s personal experience, such as the causes and treatment of Parkinson’s; navigating the doctor-patient relationship; so-called cognitive errors made in diagnosis; and the role of empathy in healthcare. This moving memoir will resonate with anyone who's had difficulty getting a diagnosis or lives with chronic disease, but will also inspire all readers with Hadley’s and Catherine’s ultimately victorious parallel quests to achieve the most fulfilling creative work of their careers.

Becoming a Creative Genius {again} makes the case that we are all born creative and entrepreneurial geniuses, then shows you how to become the most creatively entrepreneurial version of yourself you can be. And is there a part of your life that won’t improve when that happens?

Those attending Nordgren’s workshops comment that his content prepares them to get the most out of:

• Agile software development
• Design thinking
• Lean start-up methodology
• Corporate innovation processes

"a richly woven, unforgettable symphony of feelings and words"
– Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Fourteen-year-old Claire Fairchild knew from an early age that she had hands made for the keyboard and a future full of music. Entering a prestigious music contest means competing against her childhood friend, Juan, just as her feelings towards him are becoming more complicated.

Claire's younger brother, Davy, undergoes extensive tests to determine why his learning and visual difficulties are worsening. Claire struggles to balance the tension at home with contest preparations. No one is prepared for the news that Davy has an incurable childhood disease called Batten. Shortly after Claire enters the contest, DNA testing reveals that her youngest brother, Trent, also has Batten and Claire is a carrier.

While attending a conference on Batten Disease, Claire receives word that she has won the contest. Her musical dreams no longer seem relevant and she struggles to reconcile her goals with the realities of her brothers' declining health and probable early deaths. When Claire accompanies a friend on a school newspaper assignment, she meets a centenarian with a colorful musical past and only one regret in life. This inspires Claire to use her talent in a new way to celebrate the lives of her brothers before it's too late.

It turns out that kind, humble and nonpartisan can work in Washington, just reach beyond the Beltway.

An apolitical academic, an unknown, is appointed to the White House to advise the administration on STEM education, a topic absent of interest by the president. Until that is, fans begin to accumulate and momentum builds. A hire of disinterested necessity—merely an act of compliance with Congress—becomes a pivotal character triangulated between a workforce-focused West Wing, federal agencies fiercely guarding their independence, and a national groundswell—indeed an emerging movement—desperate for a North Star.

This modern-day Gulliver's Travels in Bureaucracyland begins benignly enough. America’s education systems must respond to the needs of industry, and thus the economy, and produce more scientists, technologists, engineers, mathematicians, and related professionals Congress declared in 2010. The White House’s science and technology policy office was assigned to write a strategic plan and update it every five years. The first came out in 2013, due to expire in 2018. The Trump administration was on the hook, but as of 2017, it was on no one’s radar.

Under pressure and getting heat from Capitol Hill, the administration rolodexed who’s whom in STEM and recruited a state servant for the federal chore. Short on time, oblivious to political polarity, unbound to beltway traditions, and unfazed by saboteurs, the Midwesterner blazed new trails for how D.C. can work in setting education policy.

This book unfolds the many ways in which the Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as not only King of the Jews, but the one to whom “all authority in heaven and earth” has been given. Brief meditations on virtually every verse in Matthew portray Jesus as both God and man, and as teacher, healer, and liberator from demons, sin, and death.

Drawing almost entirely on Matthew’s Gospel for his interpretation of each passage, the author also shows how Christ calls His people to follow Him faithfully, regardless of the cost.

This book is ideal for personal enrichment or group study.

Starting in 1875 and covering a span of almost 100 years, three missionary families exhibited bravery, endurance, and sacrifice when their very lives were at risk.

William David Powell and his wife, Mary Florence Mayberry Powell, were missionaries to “Wild West” Texas then Mexico.

In the period 1910-1947 (including during Japanese occupation) their daughter Florence and her husband, Hendon M. Harris, were missionaries to Kaifeng, China.

Their son Hendon M. Harris Jr. and his wife Marjorie Weaver Harris served as missionaries to Taiwan and Hong Kong. Referencing 55 books and 39 articles, this biography gives numerous firsthand accounts from all three families.

"Funny and LGBTQ+ affirming, Darts and Flowers is a story about teenagers who are desperate to be loved, validated, and part of a community." —Foreword Reviews

When Josh Bradshaw returns to his childhood home and the house down the street from his childhood best friend, it seems like it could be a new beginning. After all, he's older now, and although his feelings haven't changed, he now has words to describe what he felt. He's gay, and he's had a crush on Brian Esau since they were eleven.

Zack Standish couldn't be happier that his best friend is back home, and although he's not sure how to respond to the fact that Josh is gay, there is one very clear silver lining: Missy, the girl of his dreams, is dating his best friend's crush.

"Funny and LGBTQ+ affirming, Darts and Flowers is a story about teenagers who are desperate to be loved, validated, and part of a community." —Foreword Reviews

When Josh Bradshaw returns to his childhood home and the house down the street from his childhood best friend, it seems like it could be a new beginning. After all, he's older now, and although his feelings haven't changed, he now has words to describe what he felt. He's gay, and he's had a crush on Brian Esau since they were eleven.

Zack Standish couldn't be happier that his best friend is back home, and although he's not sure how to respond to the fact that Josh is gay, there is one very clear silver lining: Missy, the girl of his dreams, is dating his best friend's crush.

The plan is simple:

1. Break up Brian and Missy.
2. Confess their love to their respective crushes.
3. Live happily ever after.

It's a win-win for everyone... or maybe not.

When the plan spirals out of control, Zack and Josh must choose what matters most—their childhood friendship or the romance just within reach.

Debut young adult author Dean Backus spins a fun and crafty tale of friendship, identity, secrets, and love in this LGBTQ romantic comedy set in the 1990s at a private Seattle high school. Darts and Flowers is inspired by Shakespeare’s comedies and iconic teen films of the 90s.

A Chinese classic, the Shan Hai Jing, reportedly from 2000 BC claimed travels to the ends of the earth. However, today many, while accepting the antiquity of this account, believe it was just mythology. But was it? Testing the hypothesis that the Shan Hai Jing described actual surveys of North America, Charlotte Harris Rees, author of books about early Chinese exploration, followed an alleged 1100 mile Chinese trek along the eastern slope of the US Rocky Mountains. The Chinese account should have been easy to disprove.

In the travelogue Did Ancient Chinese Explore America? Rees candidly shares her initial doubts then her search and discoveries. She weaves together history, subtle humor, academic studies, and many photographs to tell a compelling story.

A recently deciphered petroglyph along the route contains names of two Shang Dynasty Chinese monarchs. That petroglyph has been authenticated by a leading expert in ancient Chinese script.

A veteran police chief’s hard-won lessons on leading yourself, leading others, and leading an organization.

Essential Leadership Lessons from the Thin Blue Line is just that—lessons learned the old-fashioned way through trial and error, studying, hard work, and experience while on our nation’s front lines to serve and protect. Dean Crisp spent decades leading people where a single misstep could cost a life. Faced with the daily challenges of a police chief, Dean threw himself into learning all he could about effective leadership and applying those lessons in his departments. He shares those hard-won lessons in this book.

Dean lays the book out into three key sections that build on each other to help you become a better leader: Leading Yourself, Leading Others, Leading the Organization. Dean’s approach to leadership is built on his concept of Diamond Leadership, a four-point method that creates a self-perpetuating synergy for positive change. Dean has taught this method in elite conferences to countless rising leaders, and now he brings it to you.

Built on the success of Dean’s debut leadership book, Leadership Lessons from the Thin Blue Line, this new release features a revised approach to the curriculum, expanded information, and a streamlined formula to develop the leader within you.

Essential Leadership Lessons from the Thin Blue Line uses personal anecdotes to drive home the human element of leadership and will connect with you at any point on your journey to becoming a significant leader.

"For years I have loved the Tar Heel Traveler and the way Scott reveals the beautiful people and culture of the Old North State. These miracle stories will invite the curious, strengthen the faithful and bring a smile to every reader."
–The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, Presiding Bishop The Episcopal Church

"Faith and Air is like a frame that displays verbal photographs of what I love most about North Carolina—the people! Simple. Real. Down-to-earth. Unashamed of faith in God."
–Anne Graham Lotz, Author, Speaker

A longtime journalist grounded in facts confronts stories that ask for faith.

Throughout his thirty years on the air, television reporter Scott Mason has interviewed countless people who unexpectedly offered up miracle stories. Such as the legendary golf broadcaster who makes for a wonderful personality profile—and then says, “Oh, and by the way, I died and came back to life.” Or the sole survivor of a plane crash who describes his harrowing ordeal—and tells of a radiant vision he says he witnessed while catapulting through the fuselage. One after another the miracle stories kept coming, but Scott Mason suspected these stories would never find their way onto the air. So he made a miracle list and dug deeper into these intriguing accounts on his own.

As he pursues the leads throughout this book, Scott shares a compelling narrative of fact and faith and his personal struggle to balance them both.

"Rademacher’s memoir is an honest portrayal of the confusion of discernment and the comfort of abiding and trusting in God."
– Publishers Weekly

"Not only has Kate been found (by God), but she has been given something to do in service to the Kingdom. Hopefully this book will be read by believer and unbeliever alike because it is an honest narrative of a person of faith."
– Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Time Magazine's "America's Best Theologian" (2001), Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law at Duke University, and author of Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir

In Following the Red Bird, Kate Rademacher describes how she came to embrace a relationship with Christ after maintaining a pick-and-choose approach to spirituality for many years. The image from the book’s title becomes a metaphor for the ways Rademacher unexpectedly began to experience God in her life and how she slowly learned to follow the breadcrumbs that God seemed to leave out for her.

Part memoir and part meditation on Christian teachings, Following the Red Bird explores not only the why of Christianity but the how. How do we learn to listen for God’s voice? How do we develop and sustain a relationship with Jesus? How do we apply Christian teachings to everyday life? Rademacher describes her journey of discovering answers to these questions one step at a time as she stumbled into a new life in the church. Both the searcher and the long-time believer will benefit from Rademacher’s experience and insights.

The school careers of two teenage girls who lived across town from each other ––one black, one white–– were altered by a court-ordered desegregation plan for Durham, NC in 1970. LaHoma and Cindy both found themselves at the same high school from different sides of a court-ordered racial “balancing act.” This plan thrust each of them involuntarily out of their comfort zones and into new racial landscapes. Their experiences, recounted in alternating first person narratives, are the embodiment of desegregation policies, situated in a particular time and place. Cindy and LaHoma’s intertwining coming of age stories are part of a bigger story about America, education and race--and about how the personal relates to the political.

This bestselling dual memoir covers the two women’s life trajectories from early school days to future careers working in global public health, challenging gender biases, racial inequities, and health disparities. LaHoma and Cindy tell their stories aware of the country's return to de facto school segregation, achieved through the long-term dismantling of policies that initially informed their school assignments. As adults, they consider the influence of school desegregation on their current lives and the value of bringing all of us into conversation about what is lost or gained when children go to school in black and white.

If there are children in your life, you need Dr. Smolen’s research and wisdom!

Physically and emotionally healthy children are Great Kids. They are happier when young and thrive as adults. Pediatrician Dr. Paul Smolen identifies five essential parenting elements which help develop happy and successful kids. In Great Kids Don’t Just Happen you will learn how to use those elements and nurture the children in your life.

The author’s observations and advice are supported by scientific studies referenced throughout the book and personal observations from his many years of practice as a pediatrician. The five essential elements and how to apply them are made easy to understand in the warm words of one who knows, practices, and teaches from research, observation, and experience. Learn how to provide:

• Realistic praise
• Consistent limits
• A healthy emotional environment
• Strong parental commitment
• Stability

Dr. Smolen’s research and wisdom are sure to be of great help for your family and loved ones.

Kate Tyler is already in a life crisis when she inherits Howard’s Walk in Eden Springs, North Carolina, after the sudden death of her twin sister, Rebecca. The last thing she wants is to be tied down to an abandoned estate and its neglected once-famous gardens. She vows to sell it as quickly as possible.

But on her first visit to Howard’s Walk, Kate finds a family heirloom, an embroidered tablecloth, that Rebecca has left behind. That connection, and the deepening sense of loss she is feeling, convince her to stay—at least for a little while. As Kate struggles alone in her grief, healing appears in the form of new friends and neighbors.When secrets begin to surface within the old house, she questions the connection she feels with a mentally challenged young man from the farm next door. When she meets the owner of a local garden center, she begins to open her heart again to the possibility of love. When she learns that a powerful and vengeful man who was denied ownership of Howard’s Walk in the past is determined to finally own it at any cost, Kate must decide what Howard’s Walk means to her and whether she has the strength to battle for its survival as well as her own.

An endearing ballad of the struggle for existence and understanding." –Booklist

Ten-year-old Pearl Wallace is living in the mountains of rural Tennessee in the depths of the Great Depression and several years into Prohibition.

Pearl struggles with her moral dilemmas: What can she do to protect her best friend Darlene from an abusive stepfather? And, especially, how much does she need to tithe on the money she has earned from stealing her daddy’s moonshine and selling it?

Meanwhile, Emily Weston, a missionary, has come to “lift the poor hillbillies of the region out of their ignorance and misery.” Coming from a place of affluence and privilege, she is quickly overwhelmed by the social and racial issues facing her students and their families.

When murder, fire, and heartbreak threaten those they love, Pearl and Emily must confront the hate and bigotry of their neighbors. Emily’s time in the mountains will be one not of saving souls, but of personal reckoning.

What would it be like to have x-ray vision?

Beyond diagnosing illness or injury, can images of ourselves tell us more about life?

What if you could see that an accident victim will never walk again; that a young mother has breast cancer; or that a teenager is brain-dead and will be removed from life support? Can imaging help us better appreciate the complexity of existence, our strengths and vulnerabilities? Does looking into the body give insight into what it means to be human? Would it allow you, at least indirectly, to glimpse evidence of the human soul?

Looking Within is the first mainstream collection of dramatic non-fiction narratives about discoveries in patients found by medical imaging. Ruff highlights the wonder and mystery of the human body, literally and metaphorically looking inside of others. Each story describes a patient in whom a life-changing discovery is made: tumors, stroke, domestic violence, substance abuse, sterility, unexpected pregnancy, infection, surgical complications, evidence of criminal activity, mental illness, even impending death. Dr. Ruff’s words, images, and insights help us see ourselves like never before.

New World Secrets on Ancient Asian Maps explores historical settings and distinctive styles of various old Asian maps and relates interesting curiosities found on them—including ancient love notes, state secrets, and internationally volatile data.

These secrets could change your understanding of world history. Initially a skeptic of the theory of early arrival of Chinese to the Americas, the author’s initial research was to find the meaning of the maps in the prized Dr.Hendon M. Harris, Jr. Collection. Her research took her beyond that to various related maps and what they reveal about Chinese knowledge of the New World at early dates.

This book presents additional text, clearer maps, and more illustrations than it did under its previous title: Chinese Sailed to America Before Columbus

A rare sighting of a Waffle boy sends young Pancake Jake on a quest in Breakfast Land: he wants to make friends with the Waffles who have long been the enemies of the Pancakes. With courage and kindness, Jake discovers a long-lost recipe that proves Pancakes and Waffles are actually made of the same ingredients.

The charming illustrations and playful text make for a fun read that will encourage important conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The author is donating a portion of her royalties to The Conscious Kid, an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth. The Conscious Kid supports  organizations, families, and educators in taking action to disrupt racism in young  children.

Motherhood is not what it used to be, as more moms than ever before are having children later on in life.

This is the must-have book for all moms who had a child after the age of 35—a group the medical profession not-so-kindly calls—‘advanced maternal age.’

Sharon O’Donnell writes about the humorous and poignant stories of having a child at 38 and how she discovered that breastfeeding and AARP membership aren’t really all that far apart.

Sharon says being a mom of a certain age can be tough and rewarding—and rather alarming when you realize that all the TV programs you watch have commercials for incontinence or the Scooter Store.

"Highly recommended"
– Library Journal

Intimate and intensely personal, the forty-five first-person narratives contained in Real Birth: Women Share Their Stories offer readers a window into the complex and emotionally exciting experience of childbirth.

Women from a full range of socioeconomic backgrounds and circumstances recount the childbirth choices they’ve made and the ways those choices have played themselves out in the real life contexts of their everyday lives. Readers meet women from all over the country who speak to us directly––no interviewer intrudes, no judgments intrude, and no single method of childbirth is advocated. Instead, these women offer us their candid experiences, presented clearly and unflinchingly.

Medically reviewed by physicians Dr. Richard Randolph for the first edition and Dr. Deborah Morris for this second edition, Real Birth offers readers a plethora of correct information as well the kind of real scoop that other books and health care professionals are often reluctant to reveal. The result is a well-grounded book that reaches across the boundaries of childbirth literature. Real Birth is introduced by Ariel Gore, journalist, editor, writer, and founding editor/publisher of Hip Mama, an Alternative Press Award-winning publication about the culture of motherhood. Also included are an extensive glossary of medical terms, a thoroughly researched selective bibliography, and a list of resources of interest to pregnant women and new moms.